The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, 'LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 16, 1859.

p OYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT
INSTITUTION.—The Committee of this Institution
earnestly appeal to the public for pecuniary ass stanc • to aid
them to meet the present heavy demands on the limited
funds of the Society.
THOMAS BARING, Chairman.
THOMAS CHAPMAN, Deputy-Chairman.

Sept. 13, 1859.
Contributions will be thankfully received by Messrs. Willis
and Co. ; Coutts and Co. ; Herries and Co. ; and at the office
of the Institution, 14, John-street, Adelphi, W.C.

RED SEA AND INDIA TELEGRAP
COMPANY.—Notice is hereby given, that this Com-
pany will be prepared to TRANSMIT MESSAG ES for the
public) on and after the Ist of October, and till further notice,
between ALEXANDRIA and ADEN ; and that the follow-
ing scale of charges has been fixed for through messages over
this portion of their line, viz. :
For a message of twenty words, including the address—
From Alexandria to Suez 4s.
If Kossier.......
Suakin 2ls.
91 Aden
The Directors have entered into a provisional agreement
with the Electric and International Telegraph Company for
the transmission of their messages to and from Alexandria,
and agents have been specially appointed for that purpose.
Arrangements have also been concluded with the Indian
Goverument and the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Naviga-
tion Company with regard to messages between India and
Aden.
The only routes at present available between this country
and Alexandria are those via Marseilles and Trieste, but the
Mediterranean Extension Company expect shortly to open
their new line to Malta, whilst there is every probability
that a direct communication with Alexandria will be esta-
blished through Constantinople in the course of a few weeks.
In the meantime messages for the Red Sea, India, Austra-
lia, or China can be despatched from any station of the Elec-
tric and llnternational Telegraph Company, via Trieste or
Marseilles, at the following rates :
For a single message of not exceeding twenty words, in-
cluding the address—

£ s.
From England to Suez(including the charge to Alexandria) 0 17
Kosseir 1 4
11 11 11
_ 11
Suakin „ - ,; 1 14
~
~ Aden I 2 13
, „ /1
' any Telegraph Station in India , 2 17
Ealfthe price of a single message being charged for every
ten words or fraction of ten word. in excess. _ _ .

Thus, for a message from England to India of from twenty
to thirty words, the charge will be £4 ss. 6d. ; from thirty to
forty words, £5 145., &c.
Due notice will be given of the tariff via Malta as soon as
the line comes into operation.
Messages for Australia and China will be forwarded by post
from Aden.
Messages from India, with the full payment due upon them,
at the above rates, will be received at any of the Government
Telegraph Stations in that country, and forwarded by tele-
graph to Bombay, and thence, by the first opportunity, to
Aden. .

Messages from Australia and China must be sent by
steamer to the Company's Superintendent at Aden, and de-
posits will be received at the office of the Electric and Inter-
national Telegraph Company at Lothbury, as security for the
payment of such messages by the parties receiving them in
England.
All messages will be forwarded by the first vessel leaving
either of the Company's Terminal Stations, Alexandria or
Aden. _ _ _

The Company will not be responsible in any case for delays
arising either from the absence of such meHns of transmis-
sion, or from any interruption in the working of their tele-
graph, or from any other cause.
In order to provide as far as possible against mistakes in
the transmission a messages by the electric telegraph, every
message of consequence ought to be repeated by being sent
back from the station at which it Is to be received, to the
station from which it is orginally sent.
flalf the usu.l price for transmission will be charged for
repeating the message.
Any further information may be obtained at the Company's
office.

By order of the Board,
• C. L. PEEL, Secretary.
62, Noorgate-street, E.C., London, Sept. 9, 1859.

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. AT'
ABERDEEN. ,

(From the Scotsman.)

The twenty-ninth annual meeting of the British Assooia- .
tion for the Advancement of Science commenced yesterday
(Wednesda) at Aberdeen under the most favourable aus-
pices. This being the first meeting the Association has
held in the North of Scotland, it has•excited the liveliest
interest among all classes, which has naturally been in-
creased by the fact:that his Royal Highness the Prince Con-
sort had agreed to assume the presidency of the association
and deliver the opening address. The best evidence of the
interest taken by the inhabitants of the district in the meet-
ing is the amount of the contributions to the fund in aid
of the local expenses, whiCh is already about £l,9oo—or
within £5OO of the sum subscribed at Leeds last year. On
Monday and Tuesday every train brought a large number
of strangers to attend the meeting, and yesterday the streets
were thronged with visitors, and presented a gay appear-
ance, banners being displayed at all the public buildings.
The meeting promises to be a most successful one in point
of numbers, no less than 2,675 tickets having been taken
out up to Tuesday evening. Yesterday morning the recep-
tion room in Market-street was crowded with applicants for
tickets, and up to two o'clock the numbers given out were :
Old annual subscribers
New annual do.
New life do.
Old life do.
Associates do.
Ladies do.

122
1102
682

Total 2049
Among those who have arrived in Aberdeen to be present
at the meeting are :—The Duke of Richmond, Earl of Sea-
field, Right Hon. Joseph Napier, ex-Lord Chancellor of
Ireland ; Earl of Enniskillen, Earl of Caithness, Mr. Tito,
M.P., Sir R. I. Murchison, Professor Faraday, Professor
W. Thompson, Glasgow ; General Sabine, General Secre-
tary; Lord Monteagle, Sir E. Belcher, Dr. Neill Arnett,
Rear-Admiral Sir J. C. Rosse, Sir W. IV. Hamilton, Rev.
Dr. Robinson, Sir W. Jardine ; Professor G, Wilson, Edin-
burgh ; Mr. C. Wentworth Dilke, Mr. Hennessey, M.P.,
Archdeacon Fenwick, Professor Syme, Sir John Richard-
son ; Professor M'Donald, St. Andrews ; Professor Blackie,
Professor Sedgwick ; Professor Dickey, Belfast.
There were opened yesterday the following exhibitions,
which were numerously attended throughout the day :—A
collection of antiquities and works of art, collected with
great taste and judgment, and no small amount of labour,
by Mr. Charles E. Dalrymple and Mr. Jas. Hay Chalmers.
_ _

It begins with relics of the earliest times, and brings us
down through the long periods into which history does not
penetrate, but where science is labouring to resuscitate con •
netted memorials, to those modern times on which history,
romance, and tradition concentrate so much popular inte-
rest. In the collection of portraits are almost all the men
who distinguished themselves in the North during the last
two centuries, with many of the great names in Scottish
history ; said, in the collection of autographs and autograph
letters—of which Provost Webster has taken charge—there
are MSS. mementoes of the persons whose portraits adorn
the walls.

In addition to this admirable illustration of local history,
there was an excellent photographic exhibition, collected,
and arranged by Mr. John E. White ; and, to those who
wish to see something of local industry, most of the public
works in the city are thrown open.

Section F.—Economic Science and Statistics.
President—Colonel Sykes, M.P., F.R.S., F.G.S.
Secretaries—Dr. Strang, H. A. Smith, Esq.

Section G.—Mechanical Science.
President—Robert Stephenson, Esq., M.P., D.C.L.,
F.R.S., F.G.S.
Secretaries—H. Wright, Esq., Peter Le Neva Foster,
Esq., R. Abernethy, Esq.

TILE GENERAL MEETING.
The first general meeting of the association was held in
the New Music Hall last night at half-past eight o'clock.
The hall, which is just completed, and was opened Lust
night for the first time, is capable of accommodating up-
wards of 2,000 comfortably; and every corner was crowded
last night by a brilliant assemblage to hear the►inaugural
address of the Prince Consort. His Royal Highness (who
is the guest of Alexander Thomson, Esq., the Convener of
the County) arrived at Banchory House from Balmoral
yesterday afternoon, and arrived at the Music Hall a few
minutes before the hour of meeting. Among those who
accompanied H.R.H. to the platform were, Sir David
Brewster, Sir Charles Lyell, Lord Provost of Aberdeen,
Dean of Armagh, Col. Sykes, M.P. ; Mr. Tire, M.P. ;
Rev. Dr. Lloyd, Dublin; General Sabine, Dr. Norman
Macleod, Professors Faraday, Hopkins, Rogers, Blackie,
Laycock, Shank More, Bennet, Allman, Feuller, and Phil-
lips ; Lord Rosse, Duke of Richmond, Lord. Monteagle,
and Sir W. A. Hamilton.

Professor OWEN, the retiring President, took the chair
precisely at half-past eight o'clock, and after a brief ad-
dress resigned the Presidential chair.

rxisstcE ALBERT'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
His Royal Highness the Prince Consort took the chair
vacated by Professor Owen amidst enthusiastic applause,
and proceeded to deliver the following address :—Gentlemen
of the British Association—Your kind invitation to me to
undertake the office of your president fur the ensuing year
could not but startle me on its first announcement. The
high position which science occupies', the vast number of
distinguished men who labour 'in her sacred cause, and
whose achievements, while spreading innumerablabenefits,
justly attract the admiration of mankind, contrasted strongly
in my mind with the consciousness of my own insignificance
in this respect. I, a simple admirer and would-be student
of science, to take the place of the chief spokesman of the
scientific man of the day assembled in furtherance of their
important objects. The thing appeared to me impossible ;
yet, on reflection, I came to the conclusion that, if not as a
contributor to or director of your labours, I might still be
useful to you, useful to science, by accepting your offer.
Remembering that this association is a popular association,
not a secret confraternity of men jealously guarding the
mysteries of their prafession, but inviting the uninitiated—
the public at large—to join them, having as one of its ob-
jects to break down thoso imaginary and hurtful barriers
which exist between men of science and so-called men
of practice, I felt that I could, from the peculiar po-
sition in which Providence has placed me in this
country, appear as the representative of that large
public which profits by and admires your exertions,
but is unable actively to join in them, that my elec-
tion was an act of humility on your part which to
reject would have looked like false humility—that is, like
pride—on mine (Great applause.) But I reflected fur-
ther, and saw in my acceptance the means, of which neces-
sarily so few are offered to her Majesty, of testifying to you
through the instrumentality of her husband, that your
labours are Rot unappreciated by your Sovereign—(loud
cheers)—and that she wishes her people to know this as
well as yourselves. (Renewed cheers.) Guided by these
reflections, my choice was speedily made, for the path of
duty lay straight before me. If this, however, are the mo-
tives which have induced me to accept your flattering offer
of the presidency, a request on my part is hardly necessary
that you will receive my efforts to fulfil its duties with kind
indulgence. (Cheers.) If it were possible for anything to
make me still more aware how much I have need of such
indulgence, it would be to succeed as your president a man
of whom this country is justly proud, and whose name
stands among the foremost of the naturalists in Europe for
his patience in investigation, conscientiousness in observa-
tion, boldness of imagination, and acutenes in reasoning.
You have no doubt listened with pleasure to his parting
address, and I beg to thank him for the flattering manner
in which he has alluded to me in it. Tho association meets
for the first time to-day in these regiOns, and in this ancient
and interesting city. The poet in his works of fiction has
to choose, and anxiously to weigh, where to lay his scene,
knowing that, like the painter, be is thus laying in the
background of his picture, which will give tone and colour
to the whole. The stern and dry reality of life is governed by
the same laws ; and we are here living, feeling, and thinking
under the influence of the local impressions of this northern
seaport. The choice appears to me a good one. The travel-
ling philosophers have had to come far, but in approaching
the Highlands of Scotland they meet nature in its wild and
primitive form, and nature is the object of their studies.
The geologist will not find many novelties in yonder moun-
tains, because he will stand there on the bare back-bone of
the globe. But the primary rocks which stand out in their
nakedness exhibit the grandeur and beauty of their peculiar
form. And in the splendid quarries of this neighbourhood
are seen to peculiar advantage the closeness and hardness
of their mass, and their inexhaustible supply made avail-
able for the use of man by the application of new mechanical
powers. On this primitive soil the botanist and zoologist
will be attracted only by a limited range of plants and
animals, but they aro the very species which the extension
of agriculture and increase of population are gradually
driving out of many parts of the country. On those blue
hills the red deer in vast herds hold undisturbed dominion
over the wild heathery forest, until the sportsman, fatigued
and unstrung by the busy, life of the bustling town, invades
the moor to regain health and vigour by measuring his
strength with that of the antlered monarch of the hill. But
notwithstanding all his efforts to overcome an antagonist
possessed of such superiority of power, swiftness caution,
and keenness of all the senses, the sportsman would find
himself baffled had not science supplied h'inswith the tele-
scope and those terrible weapons which seem daily to progress
in the precision with which they carry the deadly bullet,
mocking disiance, to the mark. (Cheers.) In return for the
help which science has afforded him, the sportsman can
supply the naturalist with many facts which he alone has
opportunity of observing, and which may assist the solu-
tion of some interesting problems, suggested by the life of
the deer. Man, also, the highest object of our study, is
found in vigorous, healthy development, presenting a
happy mixture of the Celt, Goth, Saxon, and Dane, ac-
quiring his strength on the hills and the sea. The Aber-
deen whaler braves the icy regions of the polar sea to seek
and to battle with the great monster of the deep. He has
materially assisted in opening these icebound regions to the
researches of science—he fearlessly aided in the search after
Sir John Franklin and his gallant companions, Whom
their country sent forth on this mission, but to whom Pro-
vidence, alas 1 has denied the reward of their labours—the
return to their homes, to the affectionate embrace of their
families and friends, and the acknowledgments of a grate-
ful nation. The city of Aberdeen itself is rich in interest
for the philosopher—its two lately united universities make
it a seat of learning and science. The collection of anti-
quities formed for the present occasion enables him to dive
into olden times, and by contact with the remains of the
handiwork of the ancient inhabitants of Scotland, to enter
into the spirit of that peculiar and interesting people,
which has always attracted the attention and touched
the hearts of men accessible to the influence of
heroic poetry. (Loud cheers.) The Spalding Club,
founded in this city for the preservation of the
historical and literary remains of the north-eastern
counties of Scotland, is honourably known by its important
publications. Gentlemen, this is the twenty-ninth anni-
versary of the foundation of this association, and well may
we look back with satisfaction to its operations and achieve•
ments throughout the time of its existence. When, on the
27th September, 1831, the meeting of the Yorkshire Philo-
sophical Society took place at York in the theatre of the
Yorkshire Museum, under the presidency of the late Earl
Fitswilliam, then Viscount Milton, and the Rev. W. Ver-
, non Harcourt eloquently set forth the plan for the forma-
tion of a British Association for the promotion of science,
which he showed to have become a want for this country,
the most ardent supporter of this association could not have
anticipated that it would start into life, full grown, as it
were, enter at once upon its career of usefulness, and pur-
sue it without deviation from the original design, triumph-
ing over the oppositions which it had to encounter in com-
mon with everything that is new and claims to be useful.
Gentlemen, this proved that the want was a real and not
an imaginary one, and that the mode in which it was in-
tended to supply that want was based upon a just apprecia-
tion of unalterable truths. Mr. Vernon Harcourt summed
up the desiderata in graphic words, which have almost iden-
tically been retained as the exposition of the objects of the
society, printed at the head of the annually appearing vo-
lume of its transactions—to give a stronger impulse and more
systematic direction to scientific inquiry ; to promote the
intercourse of those who cultivate science in different parts of
the empire with one another and with foreign philosophers ;
and to obtain a more general attention to objects of science,
and a removal of any disadvantages of a public kind which
impede its progress. To define the nature of science, to give
an exact and complete definition of what that science, to
whose service the association is devoted, is and means,
naturally must at all times occupy the metaphysician. He
has answered the question in various ways, more or less
satisfactorily to himself or others. To me science in its most
general and comprehensive acceptation means the know-
ledge of what I know, the consciousness of human know-
ledge. Hence to know is the object of all science, and all
special knowledge, if brought to our consciousness in sepa-
trao, thtede totalityietinetiv of ourenessfromkn,
oawndledygeet,
is scientificinitsrecogniskendowrelledatigoen.
We require, then, for science—that is to say, for the acqui-
sition of scientific knowledge--those two activities of our
mind which are necessary for the acquisition of any know-

ledge—analysis and Synthesis—the first to dissect and re-
duce into its component parts the object to bo investigated,

and to render an accurate account to ourselves of the nature

and qualities of theseparts by observation ; the second to re-
compose the observed and understood parts into a unity in

our consciousness, exactly answering to the object of our in-
vestigation. The labours of the man of science are there-
fore at once the most humble and the loftiest which man can

undertake. He only does what every little child does from
its first awakening into life—and must do every moment of
its existence—and yet he aims at the gradual approxiniation

to Divine truth itself. If, then, there exists no difference
between the work of the man of science' and that of the
merest child, what constitutes the distinction? Merely the

conscious self-determination. The child observes what acci-
dent brings before it, and unconsciously forms its notion of
it. The so-called practical man observes what his special
work forces upon him, and he forms his notions upon it
with reference to this particular work. The man of science
observes what he intends to observe, and knows why he in-
tends it. (Cheers.) The value which this peculiar object
has in his eyes is not determined by accident, nor by an ex.-

ternal cause—such as the mere connection with work to be

performed—but by the place which he knoirs this object to
hold in the general universe of knowledge—by the relation
which it bears to other parts of that general knowledge.

'Cheers.) To arrange and classify that universe of lfnow-
,
.. _ •

ledge becomes therefore the first and perhaps the most im-
portant object and duty of science. It is only when brbught
into a system, by separating the incongruous and combin-

ing those elements in which we have been enabled to dis-

cover the internal connexion which the Almighty has im-

planted in them, that we can hope to grapple with the
boundlessnes of his creation, and with the laws which go-
vern both mind and matter. (Cheers.) The operation of

science, then, has been systematically to divide human

knowledge, and raise, as it were, the separate grounds of

subjects for scientific consideration into different and
distinct sciences. The tendency to create new sciences
is peculiarly apparent in our present age, and is per-
haps inseparable from so rapid a progress as we have
seen in our days. For the acquaintance with and 'mas •
tering of distinct branches of knowledge enables the eye,

from-the newly-gained points of sight, to see the new
ramifications into which they divide themscdves; in strict
consecutiveness, and with logical necessity. But in thus
gaining new centres of light from which to direct our re-

searches, and new and powerful means of adding to its
ever-increasing treasures, science approaches no nearer to
the limits of its range, although travelling further and fur-
ther from its original point of departure. For God's work
is infinite, and the boundlessness of the universe whose
confines appear ever to retreat before our finite minds,

strikes us no less with awe, when, ming into the starry
crowd of heaven, we find new works revealed to us by every
inereaso in the power of the telescope, and when the micro-

scrope discloses to us in a drop of water, or an atom of
dust, new worlds of life and animation, or the remains of
such as have passed away. (Cheers.) Whilst the tendency
to push systematic investigation in every direction enables
the individual mild of man to bring all the power of which

he is capable to bear on the specialities of his study and

enables a greater number of labourers to take part i* th•
universal work, it may be feared that consciousness 0 its

unity which must pervade the whole of science, if it is not
to lose its last and highest point of sight, may suffei. It

has occasionally been given to rare intellects of the highest
genius to follow the various sciences in their divergent Tads,
and yet to preserve the point of sight from which aloneitheir

totality can be comtemplated and directed. Yet how rare is
the appearance of such gifted intellects ; and if they be Found
at intervals, they remain still single individuals, with all the

imperfections of human nature. The only mode of ; sup

plying, with any certainty, this want, is to be sought in the

combination of men of science, representing all the speiciali-
ties, and working together, for the common object of pre-
serving that unity, and presiding over that general 4irec-

Lion. This has been to some' extent done to many coun-
tries by the establishment of acadamies embracing the
whole range of the sciences, whether physical or metdphy-

sisal, historical or political. In the absence of such an in-
stitution in this country, all lovers of science must rejoice

at the existence and activity of this association—(cheers)—
which embraces in its sphere of action, if not the whole
range of the sciences, yet a very large and important section
of thom—those known as the inductive sciences, excluding

all that are not approached by the inductive method of in-
vestigation. It has, for instance (and, considering its pecu-
liar organisation and mode of action, perhaps not unwisely)

eliminated from its consideration and discussions those which
came under the description of moral and political sciences.

This has not been done from undervaluing their importance
and denying their sacred rights to the special attention of
mankind, but from a desire to deal with those subjects only
which can be reduced to positive proof, and do not rest on
opinion or faith. Tho subjects of the moral and political
sciences involve not only opinions but feelings, and their
discussion frequently rouses passions, for feelings are ‘f sub-
jective," as the German metaphysician has it, they are in-
separable from the individual being—an attack upon them
is felt as one upon the person itself, whilst facts are objec-
tive, and belong to everybody ; they remain the same facts
at all times and under all circumstances. They can be
proved, they have to bo proved, and when proved, are
finally settled ; it is with facts only that the association
deals. There may for a time exist differences of opinion on
these!also, but the process of removing them and resolving
them into agreement is a different one from that in the
moral and political sciences. These are generally ap •
proached by the deductive process ; but if the reasoning be
ever so acute and logically correct, and the point of depar-
ture which may be arbitrarily selected is disputed, no agree-
ment is possible. Whilst we proceed here by the inductive
process, taking nothing on trust, nothing for granted, but
reasoning upwards from the meanest fact established, and
making every stey,sure before going one beyond it, like the
engineer in his approaches to a fortress, \ST thus gain

ultimately a roadway, a ladder, by which even a child may,
almost without knowing it, ascend to the summit of truth,
and obtain that immensely wide and extensive view
which is spread below the feet of the astonished beholder.
This road has been shown us by•the great Bacon, and who
can contemplate the prospects which it opens without
almost falling into a trance similar to that in which he
allowed his imagination to wander over future ages of dis-
covery. (Cheers.) From amongst the political sciences it
has been attempted in modern times to detach one which
admits of being severed from individual political opinions,
and of being reduced to abstract laws, derived from well
authenticated facts. I mean political economy, based
upon general statistics. A new association has lately been
formed, imitating our perambulating habits, and striving
to compreherid in its investigations and discussions, even a
still more extended range of subjects in what is called
" social science." These efforts deserve our warmest appro-
bation and goodwill. Our own association has since its
meeting at Dublin recognised the growing claims of politi-
cal economy to scientific brotherhood, and admitted it into
its statistical section. It could not have done so under
abler guidance and happier auspices than the presidency of
the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Whately, whose efforts in this
direction are so universally appreciated. But even in this
section, and whilst statistics alone were treated in it, the
asociation, as far back as 1833, made it a rule that in order
to ensure positive results only those classes of facts should
be admitted which were capable of being expressed by
numbers, and which promised when sufficiently multiplied
to indicate general laws. If, then, the main object of science
—and I beg to be understood henceforth as speaking only
of that section which the association has under its special
care—viz., inductive science—if, I say, the object of
science is the discovery of the laws which govern
natural phenomena, the primary condition for its
success is, accurate observation and collection of facts
in such comprehensiveness and completeness as to furnish
the philosopher with the necessary material from which to
draw safe conclusions. Science is net of yesterday—we
stand on the shoulders of past ages, and the amount of ob-
servations made, and facts ascertained, has been trans-
mitted to us, and carefully preserved in the various store-
houses of science. Other crops have been reaped, but still
lie scattered on the field. Many a rich harvest is ripe for
cutting, but waits for the reaper. Economy of labour is
the essence of good husbandry, and no less so in the field of
science. Our association has felt the importance of this
truth, and may well claim as one of its principal merits the
constantendeavour to seeure that economy. One of the latent
undertakings of the association has been the conjunction
of scientific memoirs, which, by combining under one head
the titles of all memoirs written on a certain subject will,
when completed, enable the student who wishes to gain
information on that subject, to do so with the greatest
ease. It gives him, as it were, the plan of the house,
and the key to different apartments in which the mea-
sures relating to his subject are stored, saving him at
once a painful and laborious search, and affording him,
at the same time, an assurance of what is here offerei,
contains the whole of the treasures yet acquired, while
this has been one of its latest attempts. The asso-
ciation has from its very beginning kept in ♦iew that its
main sphere of usefulness lay in that concentrated atten-
tion to all scientific operations which a general gives to
the movements of his army, watching and regulating the
progress of his impetuous soldiers in the different direc-
tions to which their orders may have led them, carefully
noting the gaps which may arise from their independent
and eccentric action, and attentively observing what
impediments may have stopped, or may threaten to stop,
the progress of certain columns. Thus it attempts to fix
and record the position and progress of the different
labours by its reports on the state of sciences published
annually in its transactions. Thus it directs the atten-
tion of the labourers to those gaps which require to be
filled up, if the progress is to be a safe and eteady one.
Thus it comes forward with a helping hand in striving to
remove those impediments which the unaided efforts of
the individual labourer have been or may be un-