The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-12 00:00:00

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

At the meeting of this society, yesterday evening,
a paper was read, communicated by the President,
Ir. J. Crawfurd, "On the Dissemination of the
Arabian Race and Language." The whole of Arabia,
Mr. Crawfurd observed, is inhabited by a single race
of man, apparently its aborigines, and speaking one
language of their own creation, which is peculiar
and complex in its structure. When th's people first
became known to the rest of the world they culti-
vatedwheat
some cereals, such as barley, and mil-
lets, but subsisted chiefly as they do up to the pre-
sent day on the fruit of the date palm, seemingly a
native of their own country. They had domesti-
cated the horse, the ass, the camel, the ox, the sheep,
and the goat, all probably natives of their own
country ; and among these the horse, at least, was
of a quality superior to that of any other Asiatic
people. . They had acquired the art of fabricAtin,,
malleable iron, bat if they possessed gold, silver,
copper, or tin, they must have received them from
strangers, for they had them not of their own. The
Arabs had invented a written character. They car-
ried on a petty inland trade across the desert with
Syria and Persia, across the two gulfs with Africa
to the west and Persia to the east, and such of them
as inhabited the coast of the Sea of Otnan took their
share in the maritime trade which brought the pro-
ductions of India to the markets of Europe. At
the time referred to, the Arabs, he considered, were
certainly barbarian, but they were not savages,
although they must, like all the other races of man,
have passad through that stage. The very physical
geography of their country must have early di-
vided the Arabs into two usually distinct classes.
These were and still are the nomadic shepherds for
the desert, and the fixed agriculturists for the less
sterile part of the country. Had thepeople of Arabia
been African negroes, or Malays, or even Hindoos,
we may safely believe (Mr. Crawfurd said) that in
their inhospitable land they never would have at-
tained even the modest measure of advancement
now described, but on the contrary would have been
in the savage condition of some Africans or Red In-
dians, whose condition was far more auspicious. It
was not so, however, for the Arab race is of higher
intellectual quality than any other of Asia, in many
respects not being surpassed even by the Chinese,
and this superiority is evinced by the predominance
they exercise when they come into contact with any
of the other races of Asia. The Arabs, from their
peninsular position and the generally barren cha-
racter of their country, continued in a state of iso-
lation until the time of Mahomet. Under the inspi-
ration of his religion the Arabs became an altered
people. They left their own country and at once
commenced a career of conquest that for rapidity
and extent has
no parallel. Transplanted to better
lands than their own, they improved or deteriorated
according to the
race with which they commingled.
The advance in civilisation which the Arabs have
adoption
made dated from the
nt .
of their new religion,
and. most of it took place
fo-
reign countries. Their literaturehet:i
and their
but in
es.itleir architec-
ture all sprang up iu foreign countries, They were
not themselves discoverers or inventors ; and the
benefit they conferred on civilisation consisted only
in their being the agents through which the disco-
veries and improvements of other nations were
widely disseminated. It was, for example, through
their active mediation that the arts of distillation
and paper-making, Chinese inventions, reached
Europe ; and the Western World owes to them the
introduction of many useful plants, as rice; cotton,
the sugar-cane, the opium-poppy, the orange and
melon. Mr. Crawfurd then proceeded to notice the
character of the Arabian language, and the intro-
duction of Arabic words into Spain, where, notwith-
standing the Arabs were in possession of the coun-
try nearly 770 years, comparatively few words were
opted in the Spanish language, owing to the ,

disparity which existed between the manners, habits,
and pronunciation of an European and Asiatic
people. The number of Arabic words in Spanish is,
indeed, believed not to exceed 286. Contrariety of
race, manners, and religion, he observed, hindered
that amalgamation of the conquerors and conquered
which would certainly have taken place had these
obstacles not existed. This was clearly enough
shown by the opposite results which followed the
Norman conquest of England, by which, in less
than three centuries, or one-third the duration of
the Arabian dominion in Spain, not only were the
conquerors and the conquered blended into one
people, but a new and improved language, resulting
from a union of the languages of the two nations,
had been created, and this in the same proportion
of its elements as when Shakspere and Milton,
Bacon and Burke, wrote in it. The effect of the
Norman conquest of England was to promote civili-
sation, for the conquerors were far in advance of the
conquered, and in race not inferior to them. The
opposite effect resulted from the Arabian conquest of
Spain ; for the rude conquerors, when they achieved
it, must have been greatly below the people of a
Roman province at the moment in occupation of a
Teutonic people, since at the time the Arabs had
hardly been a century out of their own deserts.
In the discussion of the paper the opinions ex-
pressed by Mr. Crawfurd of the original inferiority
of the Arabs, and of the limited extent of their in-
fluence on European civilisation, were combated by
several speakers. Mr. Markham, having resided for
some time near Cordova, spoke of the great im-
provements the Arabs had introduced in the irriga-
tion and agriculture of that part of Spain, where
many of the works they executed still remain in
operation. The number of Arabic words used among
the people is also much greater than that which ap-
pear in the Spanish dictionary. Mr. Freeland de-
fended the literature of the Arabs; and having
translated several of their poems, he declared them
to be fully equal in lyrical beauty to the
poetry of modern Europe. Dr. Kemp claimed for
the Arabian physicians remarkable knowledge and
skill, and pointed out how greatly medical art was
indebted to them. Dr. Donovan and Mr. Howarth
also spoke in support of the claims of the Arabs to a
high state of civilisation. Mr. Crawfurd replied to
the observations of the various speakers ; after which
an able and elaborate paper was read by
Mr. DUNN " On Archaeology and Ethnological
Problems." Assuming the existence of man long
prior to the period assigned in the Mosaic account
of the creation, he nevertheless contended for the
unity of the human race, and opposed strongly the
transmutation theory that man was descended from
apes. He adduced several authorities to prove that
many instances are known of the deterioration of the
form of the human cranium, and that none exist of
such a change as from the skull of a negro to that of
a well-formed European. He noticed, at some ex-
tent, the discoveries of archaeologists in the kitchen
middens of Denmark, the lake habitations, and in
cromlechs, attributing to the relics there discovered
an antiquity equal to that of the woolly rhinoceros,
and other animals now extinct in Europe ; and he
anticipated that, from the further researches of ar-
chaeologists, much additional light would be thrown
on the origin of man.
The meeting then adjourned.

E SUN, LOA tiON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMB ER 12, 1866.

tional policy will lead to disaster, and I have done
my duty by opposing such a policy by every lawful
means. lam therefore not responsible for the re-
sult. Nor is it impossible that I may be wrong and
the Congress and the majority of the nation be
right. But whether they be right or I right, my
duty is clear, and that is to execute the laws they
pass. We see no "sublime obstinacy" in the PRESI-
DENT'S action, though we do see great force of cha-
racter anddeterminati on, an d the P R ESIDENT'S course
appears to us to be consistent with his well-known
disposition. It might on the whole be better if Mr.
JOHNSON'S mind could be more easily moulded to
the occasion ; —if be would act more as the servant
and less as the dictator of the people. If, however,
the people elect for the highest places men of great
determination, they must occasionally expect to
find themselves at issue with their rulers, and the
battle between them will be in proportion to the
ability and strength of mind of those they have
deliberately chosen. Nor will the result be with-
out its value. The question of Reconstruction is
amongst the most important ever decided in the
United States. The contest has been long and
obstinate, and every argument that can bear on the
subject has been urged on both sides. However
strong party feeling may run, hasty and imperfect
legislation cannot result from measures so long and
deliberately considered. Nor is it impossible, now
that the representatives of the people and this de-
termined chief of the Executive meet face to face,
finally to settle the long dispute, that each side may
concede something. Ordinary people, when con-
tending for the best terms they can get, generally
advance exaggerated pretensions. On each side the
extreme limits of the claims are urged. But when
the points at issue are brought up for decision, con-
cessions are generally made. If every family quarrel
was pushed to its extreme; there would be a general
break-up of social relations. While separated and
at a distance from each other they will write and
speak as if the victims of great grievances, but
when-brought together for the settlement of the
matters in dispute, they generally end in a compro-
mise. It often astonishes the public to hear the
platform harangues of honourable members, and to
listen to these very members discussing the same
subject in the House of Commons. We will pro-
bably not find a trace of the PRESIDENT'S wild in-
vectives embodied in his Message to the House he
traduced. Nor is it likely, that the House will
indulge in the language so many of its members
employed, when " stumping" the States. If people
were compelled to act in conformity with their
talk, the world might fairly be likened to a,
zoological garden, with the cages opened and
all the restraints removed. We entirely agree
with the Cabinet Minister who wrote these
words :—" The apprehension you seem to feel, and
which many others share with you, that Mr. JOHN-
SON will attempt to force Southern Representatives
into Congress, or do any other imprudent thing by
which the public peace will be disturbed or the pub-
lic credit be deranged, is utterly unfounded." In
one word, President JOHNSON is no fool, nor is
Congress composed of madmen.-7 he Anglo-Ameri-
can Times.

assignment, duly stamped, and made by Mr. El-
worthy's advice.

Cross-examination continued—Had never paid
Mr. Jenkin £5 to stay away from giving evidence
in favour of Cannon. had lent Jenkin £5 out of his
own pocket. Had not received the money from
Digby for that purpose. It had not been paid. He
still held Jenkin's I 0 U for it.

Defendant—Did you ever expect to bo paid?
Witness—Yes.
Defendant—And yet you never had any dealings
with the man before or since.

In further cross-examination the witness denied
that defendant had struck out from the draft affida-
vit the words " registered" and " unencumbered ;"
but defendant might have struck out the words
" above £250." If so, defendant did certainly not
strike them out'from the affidavit itself.

Defendant --No; because I trusted to you to make
a fair copy.

Mr. Flowers—lf you could show that part of the
alleged false statement consisted of an error which
had been corrected by you in the draft but omitted
to be corrected in the affidavit there would be a ma-
Aerial point for you.

Defendant—Let then] produce the draft. That
will show it.

The witness undertook to produce the draft.
The cross-examination was protracted to a consi-
derable length, the defendant endeavouring to show
that substantially these proceedings were instituted
in the interest of Messrs. Digby and Atherton, in
order to influence the result of a civil action now
pending between himself and those parties. Also
that the amount of the loan, all but £l4 and a
charge for costs making up the amount of £23, had
been paid, and that payment of the £23 had been
tendered, but Mr. Elworthy had refused to receive
it unless he were also paid certain other sums still
in dispute.

Mr. E. li. Tinsley, clerk in the solicitor's office,
Inland Revenue, Somerset-house, proved the usage of
the office, that when the registered proprietorship of a
newspaper is to be transferred, a statutory declara-
tion must be made by the proprietor, the printer,
and the publisher. On the 17th April, 1865, Miss
Emily Cannon was registered as proprietor of the
South London News ; that registration had never
been altered. The Croydon Free Press had never
been registered at all. On the 30th September a
rote was received from Mr. Cannon stating that the
copyright of the South London News and of the
Croydon Free Press had been transferred to him, and
that in a few days he would comply with the neces-
sary formalities for registration.
Cross-examined by Defendant.—lt was chiefly the
business of the printer and publisher to see to the
registration, as they and not the proprietor were
liable to penalties. If they could not find sureties
the proprietor could not register, but then he ought
to find a printer and publisher that could.
Mr. George Atherton, of the late firm of Digby
and Atherton, produced a document signed by de-
fendant assigning to Mr. Digby a charge of £153
upon the copyrights of the two papers. Thiswitness
underwent a lengthy cross-examination, chiefly
tending to show that he received this document from
defendant for the satisfaction of his partner, though
both of them knew it was perfectly valueless, de-
fendant having at that time no interest in the papers,
and such an assignment being invalid even if he had
in the other matters, which the Court held to be ex-
traneous. All these suggestions were denied.
Mr. Flowers said the points thrown out by the
defendant were, no doubt, proper questions to be
submitted to a jury, and if established might afford
an answer to the charge, but there certainly was a
prima facie case, such as he felt himself bound to
send for trial.

Charge of Perjury against a Newspaper

Proprietor.

Yesterday, at Bow-street, Mr. Thomas Cannon,
late proprietor of the South London News, appeared
to a summons charging him with having committed
perjury in an affidavit taken before Mr. Hopgood,
one of the commissioners for taking oaths, on the
30th September, 1866. A former summons, setting
forth the same charge, was made in July last, but as
it had not been served, and there was an allegation
that the defendant could not be found, a warrant was
granted, which was executed in November, and the
defendant was brought before Mr. Flowers. The
magistrate dismissed the case, considering that the
evidence was not inconsistent with good faith on the
part of the defendant in making the allegations. Sub-
sequently Mr. Collins, the barrister, instructed by.
Mr. Elworthy, the solicitor for the prosecution, ap-
plied for a new summons, urging that he was now
prepared to submit evidence which would completely
answer the argument on which Mr. Flowers had
acted. This was granted ; but on the case coming
on for hearing, Mr. Cannon pointed out that the
summons was incorrect, the affidavit being stated to
have been made on the 30th September, 1866, in-
stead of 1865. Mr. Collins asked.the learned ma-
gistrate to ameml the summons, as the error was
only on a point of form. Mr. Burnaby, the chief
clerk, said it was not a point of form, but of sub-
stance, iu which Mr. Flowers concurred, remarking
that defendant might have been misled. Still the
summons might be amended with the defendant's
consent. The defendant declined to make any con-
cession, saving that the whole matter had already
been heard, and the present proceedings were taken
vexatiously and solely for the purpose of influencing
an action now in progress, in which he (Mr. Cannon)
was plaintiff. That summons was accordingly dis-
missed, and a fresh one instituted, to which Mr.
Cannon now appeared.
Mr. Collins, in opening the case, said Mr. Can-
non was a reporter, and formerly a proprietor of the
South London News. About the 30th September,
he applied to Mr. Elworthy for a loan of £lOO,
which was obtained from Mr. Honey, a client of Mr.
Elworthy. Prior to the money being advanced, he
made an affidavit, the important parts of which were
that he was the registered proprietor of the South
Londo n News and Croydon Free Press, both papers
being unencumbered. It would be shown that the
Croydon Free Press was not registered at all ; that
at the date of the affidavit Cannon was not regis-
tered proprietor of the South London News, and that
on the 11th he had charged these papers with a sum
of £153 to Mr. Digby, of the firm of Heathcote and
Digby, the printers of those papers.
, Mr. Hopgood, one of the London commissioners
for administering oaths in Chancery, proved that the
affidavit was sworn before him on the day in
question.

Defendant—Certainly. But I presume you will
hardly all upon me to fiud bail. My own recog-
nisances will be sufficient. lam not likely to run
away from such a charge as this.
Mr. Collins, however, pressed for bail, and de-
fendant was bound over in two sureties of £5O each
and his own recognizances of £100:
Bail was at once provided, and the defendant left
the court with his frien Is.

THE VALLEY OF THE AMAZON.

PROFESSOR AGASSIZ'S DESCRIPTION OF ITS WONDER-

FUL RESOURCES.

Professor Agassiz, it has been known for some
time, thinks that the Valley of the Amazon will
one day support so many millions of people that the
Valley of the Mississippi will Le nothing to it, al-
though the latter lies in the temperate and the
former in the torrid zone. Recently he gave some
of his reasons for this view in a public lecture.
The facts he presented were most striking. He set
out on his journey with every advantage that
wealth, science, and good will could afford. His
expenses and those of six assistants were paid by
Mr. Thayer, of Boston. Other assistants volun-
teered, and thus sixteen persons formed the most
remarkable of scientific expeditions. Of two steam-
ship companies, one gave his expedition, a free pas-
sage to Rio. The United States Government sent
a circular to all our naval officers on the station
to render the expedition all the service in
their power, and the Emperor of Brazil treated
them with an Imperial hospitality that arranged for
the accomplishment of all their desires. A ship of
war was placed at their service for several months on
the Amazon. He consumed 25,000 gallons of alcho-
hol, in preserving the specimens brought away, and
was even able to bring home a fossil palm tree, to
enable botanists to
.thro oif light upon the former
vegetation and climate, of those Amerie.ln tropics.
The banks of the Amazon form a peculiar speci-
men of tropical nature, quite unlike similar regions
in Africa or Asia. There are no hills for two thou-
sand miles, clear away across the continent to the
foot of the Andes, and the river is four thousand
miles long, running from West to East, the valley
being eighteen hundred miles wide, and of the most
amazing fertility, full of vegetable matter, and irri-
gated by rivers where ships of war can sail for hun-
dreds of miles. The climate averages but eighty-
two degrees, though right under the line—
seventy-two degrees being the lowest, and ninety-five
degrees the highest ever known.
The river runs opposite to the trade winds, and
thus makes this one of the most mild and healthful
of all tropical regions. Yet it has a bad name,
owing to the bad arrangements of the Brazilian
Government, who sends out to these regions young
officers, who misrepresent the climate to get away.
All his company went and returned with comfort,
and are now enjoying better health than usual.
The woods are full of timber of the most valuable
varieties—one hundred and seventy-eight dif-
ferent kinds of timber were counted in a small
region. The river is not open at present, but soon
will be.

Cross-examined—He believed it was after twelve
o'clock.

Mr. Albert H. Elworthy, solicitor, of 14, South-
ampton-buildings, said he had been 12 years in prac-
tice there, and deposed to the facts as stated by Mr.
Collins. He also mentioned that the security origi-
nally proposed was that of a claim which defendant
had, in his wife's right, upon certain funds in Chan-
cery, but finding that defendant had also an inte-
rest in the newspaper property, he took that as a
further security. Defendant was introduced to wit-
ness by his (Cannon's) solicitor, Mr. Jenkin. The
30th September was on a Saturday, and the money
was required that day to pay wages. Witness ad-
vanced £5O out of his own pocket, as the completion
of the necessary documents would occupy some
days. When they were completed he obtained the
money for his client, Mr. Honey, and paid the ba-
lance to Cannon, deducting his charges. The inte-
rest was to be at the rate of 10 per cent.. per annum
for three months, although he hadto pay Mr. Honey
15 per cent. Witness drew out the affidavit, which
was signed at his office, and taken to Mr. Ilopgood's
to be sworn.

There is not a saw mill on this noblest of rivers.
In August and September the snows of the Andes
melt, but the lower section does not feel the rise
till the following March, and the river is highest
from June to October. The rise is from thirty to
sixty feet, sometimes the whole basin is under water,
and the forests may be navigated.
The river has no delta like the Nile, the Ganges,
or the Mississippi—not for want of mud, for it is
of a sort of half coffee, half-cream colour, and
tinges the ocean far out to sea. Instead of forming
land, the sea is constantly encroaching on the shore.
The river once extended three hundred miles beyond
its present mouth, and a belt of that breadth has
been swept away. Whether this is owing to the
sinking of the coast, or the force of the current
undermining, as at Niagara Falls, is uncertain ;
but rivers now empty into the Atlantic, that clearly
used to be tributary to the Amazon.
As to the prospect of this river soon being
open to a profitable American commerce, it
must be borne in mind that whatever may be
the mildness of the climate for the tropics, yet
fevers would appear certain to prevail. Fish
are abundant in the river, but so are alligators
and serpents, jaguars, bears, panthers, and other
wild animals are equally abundant. The tides, at
the full of the moon, are more wonderful than in
the Bay of Funday. They do not rise so high, but
much more suddenly, sweeping along like a mighty
wave or tongue of water, ten or twelve feet high,
uprooting trees and sweeping vessels most destruc-
tively. Still, where money is to be made, difficulties
will be overcome, and the interests both of the

Cross-examined by Mr. Cannon—Had nevergone
by any other name than Elworthy. Did not know
a gentleman in court pointed out to him by defen-
dant. Never did any business with Mr. Jenkiu prior
to this transaction, and would not employ him foi
any business. Had never been denied at his office
either to clients or creditors. Had latelybeen absent
for some weeks, having been engaged on urgent
business, and having also been married during the
interval. (Laughter.)
Mr. Collins observed that this was " urgent busi-
ness."

In further cross-examination witness denied being
implicated in some alleged fraudulent transactions.
An objection being raised as to the relevancy of
these matters, Mr. Cannon said they were material
as a test of credibility, as he (Mr. Cannon) should
claim to be examined to contradict Mr. Elworthy on
points essential to the case.
Cross-examination continued—Did not know that
the copyrights had been assigned to defendant by
hi 3 sister five days previous to the date of affidavit.
He knew Mr. Jenkin's handwriting, and identified
it in the body of the assignment produced.
Mr. Collins had no doubt there was a draft assign-
ment, but contended that it was a trick.
Defendant said it was not a draft, but a genuine

United States and Brazilian Governments are to
closely connected with the opening up of this vast
region, to leave any doubt but that under the pre-
sent Emperor of those vast, rich, and important
regions, the valley of the Amazon will be opened
to promote commerce and settlement.

systematically, and on principle, excludes gentlemen
from all but the very highest ranks in the service.
We believe there are not above half-a •dozen places
for gentlemen in the whole of the metropolitan
force ; though no reason can be given why half-Rai
officers, for example, should not make good superin-
tendents and inspectors. As it is, these are men
from the ranks, and a system of promotion vvhicli
people would not hear of for the army is the rule of
the police. There is said to be a very OA under-
standing between the constables and the inspectors,
for they are continually in communication, while
the authorities at the head office have little to do
but to receive reports. It is an army of privates
and non-commissioned officers, commanded by a verei
small staff. This is at least a unique system, an
cannot but be called into question if the Oleic"!
and tone of the force should ever be impeach.etl•
For the present there are questions enough waiving
their settlement, and we see no need to add this.

EHE ENGLISH PRESS ON THE PRESI-
DENT'S MES3AGE.

The Times entirely agrees with President John-
son that it is high time the Alabama dispute was set
at rest, and regrets that Lord Russell, though pro-
bably right in disclaiming any legal liability to com-
pensation, did not hold out any hope of, a compro-
mise honourable to both parties. It ought to have
been recognised fromthe first that the circumstances
attending the equipment and escape cf the Alabama,
apart from the untoward incident of Sir John Hard-
ing's illness, constituted a new case in International
Law, and the discussion of it should have been de-
ferred until the end of the war. Instead of this
each act of depredation was made the subject of a
separate claim for indemnity as it arose, and both
Governments were deeply committed to their re-
spective positions before Mr. Adams entered into the
final correspondence with Lord Russell. The pre-
sent Foreign Secretary is perfectly free to entertain
any fresh propoSals without prejudice ; and it
would be a great misfortune if he were to be em-
barrassed in dealing with them according to his own
judgment by any reluctance to reverse the decision
of his predecessor. The renewed adhesion of President
Johnson to his own reconstruction policy in spite of the
recent elections is better calculated to excite surprise
than admiration. Obstinacy carried to this pitch
is not without an element of sublimity ; but, after
all, statesmanship must be measured by a practical
standard. Popes are the only rulers who can sum-
mon legions of angels to defend them against the
inevitable without forfeiting a character for worldly
wisdom ; and of all rulers elective Presidents are
those who have least right and least power to defy
the popular will.
The Telegraph thinks the dispute between our-
selves and the United States as to the Alabama
claims could be fairly referred to an arbitra-
tor. Our national honour is not impugned, but it
is asserted that our servants were malicious or negli-
gent, and that we must be answerable for their acts.
It would be well that the whole question had been
referred to the arbitration of some European sove-
reign whose position would insure respect for his
decision. As to our neutrality laws, England has
every reason to wish that the duties of neutrals
sl.ould be strictly defined, for she has a mercantile
marine especially vulnerable to the insidious attacks
of maritime Powers professing neutrality, but really
anxious to aid our foes. One must, therefore, hope
to see, as the result of the new commission, some
amendment that will enable us in future to " come
into court with clean hands," and to demand from
foreign Powers a neutrality as strict and as honest
as our own has really been. Lord Stanley deserves
credit for having taken the very best step towards
a consummation so devoutly to be wished.
The Daily News deplores that all the good advice
which eminent men are said to have given Mr.
Johnson has been frustrated by his inordinate
vanity. If it be true that he still most decidedly
protested at the elections, and which even the de-
feated minority no longer support, he must have
utterly lost the political capacity for which he has
hitherto received credit.

smir OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.--Two recent trials, conducted with great
care, and betraying in both instances a natural jea-
lousy for and against a comparatively new institu-
tion, serve at least to show how much we might be
at its mercy. There was a striking similarity be-
tween the case which occupied Clerkenwell Sessions-
house all Friday and another which occupied much
attention some weeks ago, the only difference being
that in the earlier instance the police were convicted
of deliberate conspiracy, and therefore as deliberate
perjury; and in last week's case of the lesser offence
of violence in the discharge of their duty. Could
we know the whole truth, it is possible the differ-
ence between the two cases was not quite so great.
In both instances the policemen had gooi.l charac-
ters, and there is little to suggest that they were
acting very differently from their wont, or other-
wise than they would be likely to do under any
great provocation. The occurrence of two such
cases within a short time will be a warning to gen-
tlemen of nocturnal habits, not very careful of ap-
pearances, and quick to resent interference, that
they may any night find themselves in collision
with the guardians of order; that they may have to
exchange very hard knocks with a gathering foe ;
and that they may have to tell one story against an-
other before a police magistrate, and after that before
a judge and a jury. No two accounts of the same
transaction are ever found the same, and the chances
of divergence, and even invention, are multiplied by
the darkness of night, the confusion of .a tumult, and
the rapidity will which a night row proceeds from
beginning to end. That the possibility of falling
into an undeserved scrape should thus be brought
home to us in a new and stronger light is itself a
silent testimony to the general order of our streets
and the efficiency of our police. The greatest bless-
ings and the most necessary facilities are just those
which are only discovered by their loss or partial
interruption. We don't know how much we
owe to the quiet, unarmed, unobtrusive guard of
our streets. The younger generation can have
but little idea of the miserable creatures they have
superseded.- " Charlie," with his greatcoat and his
large lantern, kept to the open thoroughfares, and
proclaimed the hour of the night, that honest men
might wake, and rogues get out of his way. Thieve-
dom flourished in those days, conquered whole re-
gions of the metropolis, and fortified them against
the advance of order. So far as regards our civil
security, London had to be reconquered, and it was
reconquered by the new police. But there were
those who said, even in those early days, that new
brooms sweep clean, but will one day grow old—
that it was no fair comparison between a new in-
stitution on its good behaviour, and an old one
resting chiefly on use and abuse. The young, hand-
some, uncorrupted county fellows whom London
then so much admired would in due time fall into
the ways of the world, and deteriorate in their
ways, as they certainly would in their appearance ;
and, what was the worst of it, all at once, having
entered the service, as it were, all in a day. That
is nearly forty years ago, and if the police are not
invariably the active young fellows they were in
the reign of George IV., they show no signs of
moral or physical old age. They do their duty, on
the whole, very well ; and are found thoroughly
equal to many critical emergencies of a kind to try
their courage and their temper. What shortcomings
there may be in the results are traceable to our cus-
toms and to our laws, which cannot go ahead of the
national usage. London keeps it up later o' night
than any other city in Europe, and has more street
scandals of one sort or another; but Londoners and
the crowds of country people ever flowing into it
choose to have it so, and Parliament and the police
can only do their best under the circumstances.
This, too, is a land of liberty, where everybody's
house is his castle, where everybody is innocent
till he is proved guilty, and where front time im-
memorial there has been a sort of sacred war with
ministers of justice, collectors of taxes, guardians
of order, and all civil functionaries. It is, then,
under peculiar difficulties, and rather against the
national grain, that our police have to discharge
their duties. They have to receive hard blows
and hard words in an attitude and. tone of self-
defence, and never to exceed the demands of
the occasion. There are, too, men who on
the strength of this passive resistance which
they know to be the duty of a policeman
will go no further with him. In every such collision
he is apt to find himself one against many, and must
be quick if he would anticipate a rescue. On the
other hand, the policeman has his advantage when
the hearing comes. He is accustomed to the court,
and can make reports. He has heard a good many
contradictory statements, and knows what sort of
assertion will have an air of truth and carry weight.
He may not be much in favour at the Police-court,
which is a Police-court only in name, having no
special connexion with " the force ;" but he is up to
all the questions affecting the public peace, and
arising out of any breach of it. In his way he is a
lawyer, and has thereby a great advantage over the
man who very likely cannot go into the witness box,
much less stand at the bar, without being utterly
dumbfounded. If, as is often alleged, the police
have their friends ; if they do not present a suffi-
ciently stern front to vice, even when it becomes a
public scandal ; if they are too ready to accept small
favours and irregular hospitalities, there arises the
question whether the public, does its duty to the
police. There is a very general opinion that they
are underpaid, that the service is not one to draw
the best kind of men, and that its tone might be
greatly improved by bringing every individual occa-
sionally into the presence of a gentleman, instead of
superiors of his own class. Our police force is said.
to be the only body of the kind in the world that

Economy of Heat and Consumption of

Smoli e.

Under this head the iron Age makes the follow'
ing remarks on a recent valuable invention—the
furnace of Mr. Liemens, of Birmingham, which it
states, " has excited great interest in Great Britoil],
where the presumed dearth of mineral fuel has been,
regarded with apprehension. This invention, hew"
ever, lays all such apprehensions at rest, for it
literally economises all the heat and all the fuel,
and gives no smoke. It has a gas-producer, stand'
ing apart, in which the coal approaches the fire'
place by an inclined plane, where it is heated gra-
dually and parts with all its volatile products,
which pass through the fire. The fuel itself is
slowly consumed ; the carbonic acid—an incom-
bustible gas—is converted into combustible car'
bonic oxide by passing through the thick layer
of red-hot coal. Then below the grate a cistern
of water gives off steam, and each cubic foot of
this steam, as it rises and passes through the
fire, is decomposed into double that quantity
of hydrogen and carbonic oxide, which, being inflate'
enable, increases the temperature. The whole of
the heat-producers travel through the furnace and
enter one of four chambers of regenerators, as Ifr.
Liemens calls them, which are built in the lower
part of the structure. These four are used alter"
nately ; while one heats another cools, and the re'
verse. They intercept the heat, which otherwise
would fly from the chimney in waste ; and after
passing through the gas and air reach the heating
chamber, at nearly the heat of that chamber itselfci
a heat so intense that, unless modified, it would
fuse the furnace and everything exposed to its aetiel'
No smoke escapes ; the heat in the chimney is se
dom sufficient to singe wood ; and the saving of file,'
compared with an ordinary furnace is from 40 to 5v
per cent. For glass houses, steel smelters, mane'
facturers of iron, and any trade or process that re'
quires intense heat, the Liemens furnace is essell;
tially suitable. As it economises all the hear,
derivable from the combustion of the fuel-50 or 6v
per cent. of which is now lost—it is not likely t 0
be superseded in our day. The yearly saving by
means of this furnace is far more than its cost. fir.
Liemens has lately established a steel smelting fur-
nace on his own account, at Birmingham, with per'
feet success. It heats fourteens melting pots and
muffle, each pot averaging forty-five pounds of el'
steel. There are six casts every twenty-four hens'
s
so that the daily production is 3,7801b5. The g
producer is in use, and the consumption of small coal) I:"
6s. a ton, is tons per day, or about 18 cents only
per ton of steel. To do the same work under the
system of heating furnaces iu Sheffield, 31 tons of
coke, at 255. per ton, are required, the saving being
thus upwards of £4 per ton for fuel alone. 111,
furnace is also in extensive use for reheating steel
elsewhere.