The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-13 00:00:00

BIRMINGHAM, MONDAY EVENING.
The National Association for the Promotion of
Social Science was commenced at a private meeting
held at Lord Brougham's house in London in May
last ; but its formal inauguration was deferred un-
til the present month, and was fixed to take place
in Birmingham, several gentlemen from that town
having been present at the preliminary meeting,
and having proposed to make the necessary arrange-
ments for the Birmingham meeting. The model of
the association was suggested bythat of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science, but
in some respects the plans of the British Association
have been deviated from, and the new society has
bean mapped out into five troad divisions, under
which are grouped the various objects comprised
under the denomination of Social Science. These
divisions are Jurisprudence, Education, Reforma-
tion and Punishment, Public Health, and Social
Economy. Under these heads persons engaged in
all departments of philanthropic work,whether deal-
ing with moral or material interests, may be brought
together in order to compare the progress made in
the subjects in which they were interested, and to
devise improved modes of action in prosecuting
their common objects. This, indeed, is the main
purpose of the association ; but it also proposes to
follow the example of the British Association in
singling out, for consideration by the members dur-
ing the year, certain topics of general interest,
ospocially on subjects affecting commercial law, or
dealing with the improvement of public health. It
is hoped that the association will thus provide for
the societies interested in social science, such a
meeting place as the British AssoCiation furnishes
to those engaged in promoting physical science.
The noblemen and gentlemen who are expected
to be present at this meeting include the names of
most of those who have been engaged in promoting
education, and who are known as leaders in the
various great social enterprises which characterise
the present day. It is evident that any selection
from such a list must be very imperfect, but we may
mention that the list of visitors will probably include
the following noblemen and members of Parliament:
—Lord Brougham, Earl Talbot, the Earl of Har-
rowby, Lord Calthorpe, Lord Ward, Lord Rather-
ton, Lord J. Russell, Lord Raynham, M.P., Lord
Stanley, M.P., Lord A. Churchill, LP., Sir J.
Pakington M.P., Sir J. K. Shuttleworth, Bart.,
Sir T. E. iVinnington, Bart., M.P., the Deans of
Bristol and Salisbury, Mr. V. Scholefield, M. P.,
Mr. R. Spooner, M.P., Mr. Adderley, M.P., Mr.
Marsh, M.P., Mr. Slaney, M. P., Mr. Whitbread,
M.P., Mr. H. B. Sheridan, M.P., Mr. Tite,M.P.,
Mr. R. Hanbury, M.P., Mr. E. Akroyd, M.P.,
the Right Hon. J. Napier, M.P., the Right Hon.
W. eowper,, M.P., the Rev. Dr. Guthrie, Mr. A.
Helps, Dr. Browne (one of the Scotch Lunacy
Commissioners), the Lord Mayor of London, Mr.
R. Chambers, Dr. Conolly, Dr. Farr, Sir J. Forbes,
M.D., Sir C. Hastings, M.D., Sir S. Smith, Capt.
Crofton, Mr. Simon, F.R. S., 11-. Sergt. Woolrych,
Mr. E. Chadwick, C. B.,Dr. L. Playfair, Professor
Pillans, the Rev. S. Turner, &c. The Bishop of
London, Lord Lyttleton, and the Earl of Shaftes-
bury, all of whom were expected, aie unable to at-
tend.
Lord Brougham arrived this morning at 2 a.m.
His lordship is the guest of J. F. Winfield, Esq. ;
Lord J. Russell and Lord Stanley are to be the
guests of the Mayor, and Sir J. Pakington of the
Hon. and Rev. G. A. Yorke.

THE EVFNING MEETING.
Lord Brougham entered the hall, which was
densely crowded, at 8 o'clock. He was accompanied
by the Mayor of Birmingham, Lord John Russell,
Lord Stanley, Lord Talbot, &c. The noble and
learned Lord was most enthusiastically received.
A minute or two after taking the chair Lord
BROUGHAM rose and spoke as follows :—lt would
be making a bad return for the honour which
has been conferred. upon me of presiding over
the first meeting of this association should
I, by any expiession of personal feelings, delay,
for however short a time, entering upon the impor-
tant business which brings us together. But, as
many are here present besides the promoters of the
plan, it seems proper to set forth the views with
which it has been proposed, and the advantages
expected to roault from its adoption. No one
more than myself can bring to this discussion a
mind free from all partiality or prejudice in favour
of the proceeding, for I had originally grave doubts
of its expediency, and when these were entirely re-
moved by a full consideration of the subject, I had
very much graver doubts if younger and abler men
should not fill the chair, and I named two, now at
the head of departments. A different view being
taken by them, it was my duty to submit. Let it
not be thought that your attention is called to posi-
tions too general or toe elementary. If the di-
vision is meted of human knowledge into groat
branches, the science which deals with abstract
truths, and the science which treats of real exis-
t ences—matter and mind, or natural or moral
science—of these the latter and most important
relates to man as an individual or as a member of
the community, and this or the political or the
social branch is most eminently deserving of atten-
tive study. It is free from the doubts and conten-
tions arising upon metaphysical philosophy, because
it deals not with subjects whereof not a few are
placed beyond the reach of the human faculties,
but with more practical subjects—the laws which
govern mans' habits and the principles of human
nature upon which the structure of society and its
movements depend; and respecting these impor-
tant matters safe conclusions can within certain
limits be drawn. Then, it must be borne in mind
that, althongh very few men aro or can be students
of mental science, the bulk of mankind are and
must ever be political observers. The operations
of their own minds scarcely at any time engage their
attention ; but the actions of the Government, the
habits and proceedings of the people, the conduct
of other nations, their fortunes and their fate, farm
the daily subject of reflection with persons of even
an ordinary degree cf intelligence in every civilised
country, and do not escape the observation of those
living under rulers who prohibit all open discus-
sion. For cultivating this branch of science, too,
there are manifest and peculiar facilities. The
Leta on which it tests are more plain and tangible
than those which form the ground of moral philo-
sophy in its other departments. They are more
obvious ; they aro in most cases perceptible to the
senses ; they are reducible to measure and calcu-
lation. The accumulation and distribution of pub-
lic wealth ; the prosperity or suffe ings of the
people ; the quiet of the disturbed state of the
country ; the diffusion of knowledge by education ;
the moral improvement of different classes ; the
action of the law and its administration upon the
habits of the community ; the benefit which may
result from individual exertions unconnected with
the State ; theincreased efficiency of such exertions
when made by bodies amen ; the just limits of pub-
lic interference with private concerns whether for
encouragement or repression; the duties of the State
in respect to undertaking worksbeyond the powers of
individual enterprise, and the limits of those duties; i
the right and expediency of public interference with
the authority or the conduct of parents—these are
matters of distinct observation, and connected with
facts so as fur the most part to admit of exact cal-
culation. Then of the paramount importance of
these subjects, and the interests they are fitted to
create beyond the other heads of moral science,
there can be no doubt whatever. The intellectual
or moral habits of man apart from his conduct
form but a small, perhaps not the most interesting,
chapter in his history. But the story of national
affairs ; the events or the measures which change
the condition, which influence the fortunes of
the community in whole or in part ; the rise and
decay of institutions affecting the welfare of mil-
lions ; the course of a policy upon which depends
the happiness, perhaps the existence of a state ; the
changes in the structure of government or in its
functions as bearing upon the concerns of the com-
munity at large—these are subjects of the deepest
interest ever in contemplation, but pressing still
more upon our earnest attention because of
their practical relations, and the tendency of their
discussion to produce active exertions for the gene-
ral good in connection with them. Let it, moreover,
be remembered, that the facts to which those in-
quiries, and upon which our inferences must rest,
are necessarily of a public nature, and so much
within the knowledge of the world at large as to af-
ford a reasonable security for their being carefully
observed and truly recorded. History, statistics,
the contemporary narrative of public events, the
details of national affairs—these are the sources
from which the political reasoner draws his mate-
rials. Established institutions, measures for adding
to their number or extending their scope, attempts
to modify some or to alter, possibly even to dispense
with them ; monuments of legislative wisdom or
error ; enactments regesdrug crime and their pun-
ishment ; measures of police, judicial proceedings,
acts of the state in executing the laws—these are the
facts which the political reasoner generalises, and
on which he builds his system. When the para-
mount importance of moral and political science is

regarded, and the facilities for its cultivation, from
the nature of the evidence it rests on, are duly con-
sidered, it has struck observers whose efforts are
directed towards human improvement as somewhat
extraordinary that the course should not have been
taken which has proved so advantageous in' assist-
ing the progress of inquiry in that other great de-
partment of knowledge—natural philosophy ; and
they have strongly recommended the plan of as-
sembling together occasionally, perhaps periodically,
the various individuals and bodies whose at'tention
is devoted to the ascertainment, illustration, and
general exposition of moral and political doctrines.
it is very possible that in the end this object, may be
attained, and that the association which we ;are met
here to open may bear as wide a relation to moral
and political science as the British Associatiop, which
has now been in successful action for considerably
more than& quarter of a century, doss to mathemati-
cal and political science. At present, ho'rever, a
limited view is taken. It proposed that five of the
most important branches of moral and political in-
quiry should be singled out—those which especially
form the portals of social science--comprehending
the plans both in their details andin the pkanciples
that should govern themfor furthering the improve-
ment and securing the stabilityof the social system,
correcting the faults, and supplying the defects, of
our institutions upon sound, rational, and tempe-
rate views, and rendering desperate all attempts
either to check the progress of improvemo.t, or to
gratify the wild desires of those who woul destroy
rather than amend ; in a- wdrd, steering the middle
course between those who regard all change as per-
nicious and those whom no change wAI satisfy.
But if our subjects are in some measure! limited,
the scope of our deliberations is anything rather
than narrow, it embraces the greatest temporal in-
terests of mankind. In the first rank, indeed, at
at the head of the whole, must be deservedly placed
jurisprudence, described by one avho was not with-
out prejudices against the professors of the science,
wholly unworthy of his enlarged understanding—
Mr. Burke—as the pride of the human intellect, and
with all its defects, redundancies, errors, the collected
reason of ages, combining the principles of original
justice with the infinite variety of human concerns.
But among those redundancies and errors very many
are, and almost of necessity are, the growth of
time, the great innovator. Lord Bacon said, it
changes, though slowly, even imperceptibly, yet
surely and without any intermission,
the circum-
stances of society ; .while a reluctance, grounded on
a wholesome dread of rash alteration, but carried
oftentimes to excess, hinders us from adapting our
laws to the new state of things, and this makes the
retention of the old rule occasion the very shock,
the very violence, which it was wished to avert, as
the steersman too anxious to avoid the stream may
be wranded on its bank. It is impossible to make
any arrangement of even the subordinate branches
of a great subject which shall keep each entirely
separate from the rest, because all are so related as
to run into each other. Thus the repression of
crime and the reformation of offenders is intimately
connected with jurisprudence, and cannot be fully
considered in one point of view, at least, apart from
the preventive operation of the law for punish-
ing crimes, and of the provisions for detecting
them ; the two great departments of criminal juris-
prudence, and police, being the third.
But
tdmucce pen
h,
remainsy
tbe considered with respect
to the prevention of offences and the reformation
of offenders, and entirely independent of these
branches of the criminal law. Again we come to the
great subject of education; we find its broad founda-
tions connected with the department just adverted to
—the preventive and reformatory system.. Yet,
whatever relates to instruction, the planting of
schools and training of teachers, the methods of
instructing, the care of children independent of im-
parting the kind of knowledge which we term learn-
ing, the limits within which the state may safely
act for encouraging education, the right or even the
duty of the state to enforce the acquirement of
goo I habits and useful information, when it se-
verely punishes for the certain consequences of the
want of them—these important matters may be
handled as a separate branch of inquiry and of
legislation without breaking in on the other de-
partment. Perhaps the great subject of sanitary
policy stands more in a state of separation than any
of those which have been mentioned, but that it is
as truly insulated cannot be affirmed. Education
has no little bearing upon some of its essential
chapters, the action of Government upon others,
police most materially upon some, and the positive
laws respecting hellth—both those for regulating
foreign commerce and those relating to the home
trade—are intimately connected with several parts
of the subject. It may, nevertheless, be considered
that much more depends under this head upon in-
dividuals acting separately or in bodies, than upon
either the enactment or ,the execution of the law.
The very important head/ of social economy, on the
other hand, is the one most of all connected with
But it is by no means hard to point out its the sister departments, we may say with and them;
and it would not be easy to over-rate the magnitude
of the several subjects which fall under this head.
connec-
tion with problems the most delicate and of most
difficult solution. As tracing the line which sepa-
rates the province of the lawgiver from that of the
community and its members ; fixing the point
at
which at kte interference ought to stop ; often reject-
ing as much the unjust advice to go further or the
remonstrance against any action whatever ; the
counsel of those who are averse to all interposition
where it may be not only expedient, but necessary,
and of those who would be constantly meddling,
turning the
exception into the rule. Of these op-
posite creeds we may well prefer the middle course
described by Dryden on a very different subject,
and say—.

" —Equal folly all
Believing nothing, or believing all.
The difficulty which we have found in endeavour-
ing to make a logical division of the various de-
partments of inquiry arises from that truth, so un-
deniable in itself and so happy in its consequences,
the intimate connection that subsists amongst a
the arts, the sciences, the inquiries which touch the
interests of mankind. All, as was long ago said by
one of the greatest statesmen and plulosophers of
antiquity, are bound together by a common tie, and
own, as it were, the mutual relationship of kindred.
" Omnes artes qum ad humanitatem pertinent, col-
ligan.tur quodam commune vinculo, et quasi cogna-
tione quadam inter se continentur." From that
branch of the family
which hero occupies us, we
cannot exclude even the natural sciences, and we
may observe that the British Association pays
homage to this principle by having a class for poli-
tical economy and statistics. Indeed, it was
even carried so far by the wisest of the ancients,
that he ascribed the surpassing eloquence of the
greatest orator who had before his time appeared,
to the circumstance of his having studied natural
philosophy as well as moral. But it is manifest we
are taking a right, in some sort a necessary course,
in bringing together those who chiefly devote
themselves to promote these inquiries, and to
measures connected with social improvement ; and
this position appearsto rest upon mostsolid grounds
both from considerations common to all joint under-
takings, and from the peculiar nature of the sub-
ject itself. Of the former description is the great
advantage which must accrue from the mutual help
afforded to one another as fellow-labourers in the
same cause ; the increased efficacy thus given to the
efforts of each ; the lights struck out by full discus-
sion, with the valuable suggestions thus produced—
the reflections ofi each individual
tbabdhgeeeeiafep being
grt made, experience, asit were, common to all ; the security
error by timely examination of each plan
its author's prepossessions have been too
rooted, and before he has been committed
to its details ; the authority given to proposals
tinh,eeivneflutieifli not shainchctinioanyedbebayegthueirceodn
ultimately, and after mature deliberation persevered
isne consent
roifooutshwe rasy
s;
when that sanction has been declared. Those ad-
vantages attend all such unions, and may be cited
in favour of any combined operations, whatever be
the nature of the subject. But there is a peculiar
expediency—it may be rather be said necessity—for
such a common or united action when a great variety
of opinion is likely to exist upon many matters, pos-
sibly no univei sal concurrence upon all the particu-
lars of aoy one. Placing all prejudices arising from
diversity of political party or religious sect entirely
out of view, and assuming every person to be in-
spired with the pure and single desire of performing,
his duty towards the community, it is still unavoid-
able that men should view the same subject in dif-
ferent lights, and that the absence of such standards
from demonstration or experiment, as the reasoners
on other sciences can appeal to, should create
doubts and introduce diversities of opinion. In
some cases these differences may yield to full dis-
cussion, but in not a few instances they will remain;
and here is precisely the inestimable advantage of
such an union as ours. That discussion and expla-
nation may often remove the grounds of dissent is
undeniable. We have classical authority for observ-
ing that how widely soever men may differ in their
reasoningsser upon human conduct it is singular how
seldom
differ much in the judgments they form
itnge y
it. We may go further and affirm that
is less diversity of opinion than might be sup-
rteh
respecting

posed even upon general subjects ; and that igno-
rance or misinformation, or inattentive, and there-
fore inaccurate observation, or careless reflection
and hasty declaration, is the cause of most of these
differences. Once upon a time, says the old Eastern
legend, two knights met in a plain where stood a
shield upright, and one said it was a white shield,
the other affirming it was black, whereupon they
were about to fight after the fashion of that age,
still not wholly exploded in our own, though hap-
pily becoming more out of vogue. But a dervise or
past approached, and having learnt the cause of
their quarrel, suggested that they had better look
at both sides of the shield, when they found that
each was right, the one face being pure white, the
other jet black—the minister of peace performed
his duty well and wisely. Some among us even in
the present day; with groundless apprehensions of
danger, if all persons knew the whole truth ; or, it
may be, with a supposed interest in the dispute
continuing, would have the shield covered up and
the fray go on. Had the dervise, even without any
sinister motive, only like the Levite in the parable.
kept aloof and passed upon the other side while the
work of mischief was doing, he would grievously
have neglected his duty and made himself answer-
able for the consequences. Now, this is a respon-
sibility which we will not undertake: We summon
those who honestly differ in opinions, because they
regard the same subject from different points of
view, to look at both sides, when possibly they
may be found to agree. But it may often happen
that, after all, the difference of opinion continues,
and there are no doubt subjects that involve prin-
ciples on which men of great sagacity and good in-
formation may conscientiously take different, even
opposite views. Thus it is of incalculable import-
ance that those points upon which they are agreed
should be separated from the rest, and the mea-
sures approved regarding which no material dif-
ference exists, in which is only another form of the
same proposition, the measures to be so modified by.
national concession on the controverted grounds,
as what all approve should be adopted. Such a
wise and most useful proceeding implies no aban-
donment of principle, because nothing is more
common than the instance of the same practical
course being with entire consistency pursued,
whichever of two conflicting doctrines may be held
the sounder. This happens more frequently in
political than in physical differences of opinion, but
even iu these we take the same course practically
whatever may be the diversity of two theories, be-
cause there is enough common to both upon which
the practical result may be grounded. No one, in
constructing tables, ever stopped to examine the
well-known controversybetween two of the greatest
analysts on the logarithms of negative quantities.
But in the science of contingent truth there are of
course many more instances of conflicting theories ;
yet the wide difference betweeen the theories of
electricity and of magnetism is altogether • dis-
regarded by those who would frame 11-1:3 mechanism
of the telegraph. The maker of the telescope in-
quires not into the comparative merits of the New-
tonian and the undulating doctrine of light ; and if
that illustrious man, the ornament of the neighbour-
hood, had waited until the various theories of heat
could be reconciled, or one system be adopted to
which none could object, his immortal discoveries
and inventions would not to this day have armed
man with the vast power which he now possesses,
and changed so entirely the face of the world—that
world beneficially created for our admiration, aiid
worthy of it, though partially disfigured it be by
our follies and our crimes. Upon the beneficial
effects of united action in its different applications
I can venture to speak from an experience of some
duration and considerably varied. It may suffice
to mention two instances of this successful opera-
tion. About 30 years ago the society was founded
for diffusing useful knowledge ; its object being to
bring the different branches of science and literature
within the reach of the great bulk of the community,
by reducing the cost of books. maps, and pens, to a
very moderate scale, and bypreparing several works
at once didactic and attrac ive. The committee
who carried on these operations consisted of 60
persons, among the most eminent in science and
literature, ancient and modern, with members of
the three learned professions, and distinguished
statesmen. Regular meetings were held to receive
the reports of the sub-committees charged with
preparing the various works composed either by
their own members, or by others who were em-
ployed. Every matter was disqussed by the
general committee, both on the writings submitted,
and on the works to bo , undertaken. The most
severe examination had to be applied by the sub-
committee, but the proof-sheets were from them
submitted to the whole of the members, who had
to consider both the substance and the manner of
treating it ; and even those who on any subject might
not feel competent to criticise the scientific part,
exercised a vigilant superintendence over the style,
so that errors in composition, and offences against
correct, even severe taste, were sure to be detected
Now, the great number of our members, profiting,
moreover, by the communications of about 70 local
committees, and the advantage of constant inter-
course among the members of the central body, en-
abled the society in the twenty years of its active
operations, to publish not only with absolute regu-
larity treatises twice a month, but various other
works not given periodically. Above 200 volumes
have thus appeared. The circulation of the scien-
tific works frequently reached 25,000 ; of those in
more general use, 40,000 ; while of the preliminary
discourse, the circulation was 160,000 ; and of the
weekly or penny magazine it exceeded 200,000 ;
and this gave rise to works of a like description, as
did also the scientific treatises ; so that ele effects
of the society's labours were not circumscribed
within the classes among whom its works circulated.
And it further had the satisfaction of finding that
the price of books, maps, and prints was exceed-
ingly lowered, while their numbers were greatly
multiplied, and cheap literature was found to be
the true interest of authors as well as publishers,
and was no longer confined to light reading, but ex-
tended to works of science and art, conductiug with
unremitting attention to the explanation of all
technical terms, and all obscure allusions, and re-
moving whatever other obstructions are found in
the path of the learner ; so that the youth of hom-
ble station could no longer be met by those distrJs-
sing difficulties, both in expense and in the want
of truly didactic works—difficulties which had be-
fore made the pursuit of self-education all but
hopeless. A still more important service, however,
was rendered by teaching professional authors and
publishers that there is a market for true and. sub-
stantial knowledge among the people at large,
which, even, if they had suspected its existence,
they never had felt confident enough to prepare
books for it. Other important, though incidental
advantages accrued from the society's labours ;
many works, soma of them periodical, remarkable
for their ignorance and folly ; and others filled with
ribaldry and scurrility, and of a hurtful tendency,
and which lowered the interests both of church and
state, were discontinued ; and the translation of
the society's works into many European languages,
as of the preliminary discourses into six of them,
and some Oriental tongues, was followed by the
establishment in some countries—as France, Hol-
land, and America—of institutions on a similar prin-
ciple, giving rise to similar publications. It has
been inaccurately stated that the society had ceased
to exist. It is a body incorporated by royal charter
and cannot be extinguished unless by a forfeiture.
In fact, although for some years it has not been
in
active operation, bemuses all the purposes of its
as soon as its
interposition in-
stitution had
wbeen
required, amply fulfilled,the then
it
stood
loatheforwrd
and I had the honour of presenting
House of Lords its petition against the re-
moval of the Great Exhibition from London
to Sydenham, a proceeding which was felt, and the
result has proved justly felt, to deprive the work-
ing, and even the middle classes of the helps to the
acquisition of knowledge furnished to the Exhibi-
tion while it remained in town. There is even less
foundation for the other charge brought against the
society that classical studies are undervalued in its
publications. Books issued under the superinten-
dence of the first scholars of the day—the Mattys,
the Arnolds, the Thirlwalls, as well as the professor
of Latin and Greek in one of our universities, are
not likely to be the just objeo' s of this grave re-
proach ; and all the members of the committee well.
know that they had been repeatedly but falsely ac-
cused of too great a devotion to classical subjects.
But the other experience to which reference may be
made is that of the body whose oi.jec s approach
most nearly to our own—the Society for Promoting
the Amendment of the Law. So many of its mem-
bora are now present that there may be noi neces-
sity for entering as fully as iu the ease of !Ie Useful
Knowledge Society into the evidence which its en-
tire success affords in favour of combined action.
Like that society, however, it has done good in fur-
thering what is beneficial and in preventing what
attendant
more
p
, cea expo
is hurtful. It would not be easy to describe the
many previous attempts at legislation which it has
t is
stopped in their earlier stages—attempts tending
to the injury, not the amendment, of the law ;
sure, calculated. to bring the great cause of legal
and if e
me ending in
disrepute, failurerepute. and
b its
improvement,
tn
into

to dwell upon the signal benefits that have a4crued
from the measures maturely digested and strenu-
ously promoted which have obtained the sa ction
first of the public assent—that is, the appr val of
those who are capable and well-informed and,
finally, the consent of the legislature itse . To
give particular instances would only wear those
who are familiar with the history of the s ciety.
But lam bound to state that since its establi went
in 1844, most of the bills which I have bron ht for-
ward, and of which many have been passed, eking
a great change in our jurisprudence eithe origi-
nated
1)
in the inquiries and reports of the s ciety's
committees, or owed to the labours and at hority 1
of that body valuable help towards, first, th it pre-
paration next, their adoption. The great ensure
of local' judicature, and those which arose out of
the common law and real property com Missions,
' were no doubt adopted prior to the societets foun-
dation. But many of the bills for extending and
improving these uses were materially indebted to its
corporation. One instance is better than any gene-
ral description. Of the nine bills presented by me
to the House of Lords in 1815, and six of which
are now the law of the land, two of the iiix were
I suggested by the society, and another,sthebetmi,eyoist
important of the whole, and which. ha
i
changed the course' of procedure, the act for the
examination of parties in all suits, I nevel should
lhave succeeded in carrying but for the ,society's
Icorrespondence with all the county court judge.,
and their direct unanimous testimony in favour of
the change. Take another instance. Of the legal
improvements in the` session that has just closed,
the most important are the, Divorce and the Frau-
, dulent Trustees Acts. The former was mainly fur-
-Ithered by the inquiries of committees, by the public
meeting held on the protection of married women,
' under the presidency of Sir John Pakington, and
by the bills which the society prepared, and which
were presented the session before ; while the latter
(Fraudulent Trustees Act) originated in the inquiry
and teport of a special committee of the society
upon the subject. Nor should we pass over a very
important step taken .by the government iu conse-
quence of the society's urgent remonstrance against
the grievous defects in our judicial statistics •, the
elaborate discussions in the committees, and the
conclusive reports, ailed by the indefatigable la-
bours of Professor Levy, have had the effect of in-
troducing a material improvement in that depart-
ment, and yet, as the imperfection still is so great
as to make the returns not deserve the na rue of
judicial statistics, we have now every ground for
hoping that, at length, the legislature will have the
means of ascertaining the effects of its acts, and no
longer continue to pass laws in the dark. This Eie-
ject will deserve the early attention of our first de-
partment ; n)r is there any other matter that ap-
pears
so much to press for consideration, if it be not
the continued refusal of equitable jurisdiction to
our local acts—a refusal not easy to be compre-
hended, when, several years ago, we found some of
the first solicitors in London declaring, in a peti-
tion to Parliament, that they never should think of
recommending a client to sue for an equitable debt
of so little as 1000/. The various efforts made to
obtain this measure of strict justice have received
the aid of the society, and much important infor-
mation has been obtained, though as yet all those
attempts have failed. But the society has also af-
forded proof of the valuable results obtained from
combined action in the two mercantile law confer-
ences which it convened and conducted in 1852 and
1857. Prior to the former year no systematic at-
tempt lead been made to obtain the opinion of met-
cautile classes throughout the kingdom on the state
of our commercial law. .Indeed, it is comparatively 4
of late years that the establishment of those valua-
ble institutions, chambers of commerce, has af-
forded
the means for selecting delegates from our
mercantile towns, and when, in Nov., 1852, the
representatives of a number of chambers met, under
the direction of the society, to discuss the assimila-
tion of the mercantile law of England, Ireland and
Scotland, a new era certainly began in our c )m-
-mercial legislation. The result of that confer-
ence, which was presided over by myself on the
first day, and by my noble friend Lerrl Harrow-
by on the second day, was the appointment of
a royal commission to inquire into the subject which
had occupied the attention of the delegates. The
commissioners, all men of tried reputation and
ability, accumulated a great body of evidence, and
publishel the results of their labours in a valuable
report, which recommended an extensive assimila-
tion of the mercantile laws of the three portions of
the Uni.ecl Kingdom. This report has not been
allowed to remain a dead leAer • the two Mercan-
tile Law Amendment Acts of the Session of 1856
were founded upon its recommendations, and
though these measures undoubtedly fell short of
what might have been hoped for, and still leave
much to be done in the way of assimilation, they
must be regardel as very useful additions to the
statute-book, and are, in my trust, tho precursors
of further improvement. The second Mercantile
Law Conference in January last is of too recent a
date to enable us to dwell upon its results ; there
cannot, however, be any doubt that they will be as
satisfactory as those of the former meeting. The
objects of this second conference were more wide
and varied, and its discussion extended over a
longer period, and a proportionate time must be
expected to elapse before its proceedings will bear
all their legitimate fruit. The present state of
the law and administration of bankruptcy was very
fully dealt with, and we have already two tangible
results from that debate : in the 'bill which I pre-
sented to the House of Lords for remedying the
evils in the bankrupt law complained of by the
commercial delegates at the conference ; and it is
very satisfactory to find that tho Chamber of Com-
merce in this town has prepared another measure
having the same object, but more detailed in its
provisions. There can be little doubt that the at-
tention drawn to the state of our bankruptcy courts
by the conference in January, perpetuated as it
will be by the discussions hero during tho next
three days, will finally result in a measure carrying
out still further those improvements which were
commenced in 1831 in this important branch of
our commercial jurisprudence, and wore afterwards
expanded in the Consolidated Act of 1849. The
subject of bankruptcy has been alluded to as the
most prominent of the topios which occupied the
attention of the conference in January ; but it
seems certain that the effect of the great meeting
will be felt in other matters—that the repeal of the
17th section of the Statute of Frauds, recommended
by the second conference as well as by the commis-
sioners who were appointed on the representation
of the first, and the extension of More frequent and
better means of local justice to provincial towns,
also strongly insisted on by the delegates, will re-
sult at an early date from its deliberations.
Out of the Law Amendment Society's proceed-
ings and in close connexion with it has arisen
the National Reformatory Union, which besides
its regular meetings in Loudon, held last sum-
mer its first provincial meeting at Bristol, under
the presidency of Lord Stanley, whoscaddress, with
the papers read and discussed at the Thtings of the
departments, contained a body of most valuable in-
formation, and set forth doctrines of great import-
ance upon the repression and prevention of crimes,
more especially upon the great question relating to
reformatory measures. To the labours of that
meeting, and generally of the union, and to the
conferences held here, without the interposition of
any established association, we owe the great proe
gross recently made in preventive and reformatory
policy. The instances which have hitherto been
referred to in illustrating the effects of joint and
united actions are those of permanent bodies. But
occasionally concert and union has taken place, and
always with beneficial results. In the town in
which we now are assembled two of these con-
ferences were held, in 1851 and 1853, on reforma-
tory plans—the Recorder presiding over the first,
Sir J. Pakington and Lord Shaftesbury over the
second. There were no papers read at theme meet-
ings, and the great advantage was not obtained
which had attended the Bristol meeting from
Butthat
convenient and useful course being pursued.
the discussions were of great value, and the resolu-
tions which were, after the fullest consideration
made public, together with
ance a futo
ll
aacdcoopttinedt,of
beingt
he debates, gave powerful assist
the progress, of reformatory measures. It was
found
Law
obili,l):neenrifelee
fir,wetaansrsceatesistll:llßitts
h:
collected
ttol,
lflrbeocemtsanei
(al
ted aifmtre sho
idenai
mstvcatauhtssisesoi
of
fin qsMercantile,ualtteEach
tern,
informa-
tionignrdeaivtwidual in such debates is loft to ac' for himself ;
but ho is better able so to act than he was before,
both by having had the advantage of hearing the
opinion of others, and by the confidence which
actually arises from feeling that he is associated
with a body of persons engaged in the same pur-
suit. The result of their joint proceedings both here
and at Bristol, has been not only the establish-
ment of many new reformatory institutions but
the obtaining from the legislature the valuable im-
provements introduced by Mr. Adderley's act of
1854 and Sir S, Noithcote's of last year. These
acts were also extended to Scotland, and the want
of them in Ireland has been felt by many who
were well disposed to adopt the same plans.
Another occasional conference must not be for-

gotten that was held under the presidency of the'
Prince Consort this year, and suggested by Canon •
Morley, upon the one specific but most important
subject of the impediments opposed to the ednpatien /
of the working classes by the competitiOn, SCO3
speak, of the employer with the scboolmaster, tyse
very intelligible and not unnaturralreltiCiance of
parents in straitened circumstances to lose the bene-
fit of their children's labour, which is of scime value
even at a tender age. The proposals brought for is
ward with the view of overcoming this difficulty,
by the canon himself, by Mr. Grantham Yorke, and.
by others, and the full inquiries into the whole
questiOn, and the subjects connected with, it, may
be reasonably expected to produce importatrt bene-
fit to the cause of education, and to afford addi-
tional proofs of the advantage of combined exer-
tions for the attainment of objects which the com-
munity at large is often much more interested in
than anxious about, or well-informed. upon. The
services which the labours of the association may
render to the legislature have been in passing ad-
verted free Some of our inquiries no doubt regard
subjects which do not fall within the province either
of those who make or those who administer the
laws. Among others, some in which interference
would be hurtful, whether of government or of
Parliament, now, but where there cannot, and
where there should not, be such action, our labours
may be supplemental to the state. But when they
are only ancillary, when they and the legislature,
by preparing measures, by explaining them, by
recommending them to the community, or it may
be by stimulating the legislature to adopt them ;
far from any jealousy of our exertions, being reason-
s ably entertained, they are eminently entitled not
only to acceptance but to favour. Nothing of party,
nothing of what is termed political, except in the
_good sense of the phrase, can enter into the struc-
ture of the functions of our body. While men of
' all opinions, and shades of opinion, are united in
the good which never can arouse any feeling un-
friendly to the established order of things in this
free and happy. country—while no disrespect will
ever be shown towards the very different institu-
tions of other countries—while the sound view is
taken that those institutions 'may probably be
suited to their diversity of circumstances—while
the want of all institutional government in some
countries, and the excess of popular interference
in others, may neither provoke our pity nor our
envy, persuaded as we all may be that our system
protects us at once from military power, and from
the rule of the iresponsible multitude, which only
terminates the countless evils of its own peculiar dis-
position when it brings on the more ordinary domi-
nation of a single tyrant. The inestimable blessing
of this security we owe to our well-balanced consti-
tution; and the change as it is called by some, the re-
novation, by others, effected of lateyears has certainly
been attended with one consequence not to be over-
looked in our present deliberations. It cannot be
denied that the representation of so many places by
members of local influence has with many most im-
portant advantages one material drawback. Local
interests are well represented, they ought to be, for
any system would be most imperfect which made the
wants and the wishes of each plan merge in those
of theewhole community. But it is unilenialde
hit, with some distinguished exceptions, the
general result is, the confining men's cares to their
immediate constituencies in discharging their parlia-
mentary duties. In the theory of the constitution,
beyond all doubt, as in contemplation of law, they
represent the whole country, and are to consult its
interests. But practically, and in fact, they are too
apt to regard themselves as representing the place
that returns them, and this unavoidably leads to
confining their views within narrow bounds. They
do not devote much of their attention to subjects of
a more gen ralcharacter —they do:not of themselves
either study measures of that catholic description,
or volunteer their exertions to carry such a policy
into effect. But some persons, and they form a
very considerable portion of our whole representa-
tives, as things are now ordered, would be far from
showing any indisposition towards men whose la-
bours might cast light upon such important sub-
jects, and point out both the wants of society in
there respects, and the means of supplying them.
'Nis help would assuredly be well received by all
well-intentioned representatives of the people, as
it would be honestly and frankly, but respectfully,
offered, and the exertions of the associations which
we are now engaged in forming will be invaluable
in this view. But hopes are cherished by many zsa-
tous friends of a progressive policy, that some im-
provement may be introduced into our Parliameu-
t cry system which shall add to the representative
body a class chosen by constituents of scientific and
literary acquirements, and other persons of liberal
education. This plan has been strongly recom-
mended by eminent men of all parties, including
those who hare presided in the Commons (Lords
Eversley and Dunfermline). It may be justly ob-
served that the existence of such a cless of members
would, to a certain degree, impair the force of the
argument grounded upon the prevalence of local in-
fluence over the opinion and the conduct of our
representatives, one of the mainreasons support
of the supposed improvement being its tendency to
give the Legislalure the aid of counsels more free
from the influence of local prejudice. But thebulk
of our representatives would still be subject to that
influence, and it is unquestionable that even those
who are not biassed by the wishes of constituents
are under local influence, arising from another
source, from their connection with the place, by re-
sidence, birth, or profession. Such a bias is indeed
much less powerful than that given by the opinions
and feelings of those who have elected and may re-
move ; and yet to a certain degree it exists, and
cannot be counteracted. Renee we descry
addi-
tional ground for highly estimating an
the importance
of such inquiries as shall be undertaken by -those
who are devoted to the promotion of social im-
provement in its main branches, and to the devising
and adoption of means to assist its progress. Nor
let the importance be lightly considered of diffus-
ing among the various classes of the community the
subjects to which our inquiries
Nkvrillolwbleeddgi
reecotfedt,h
ande which, though all are alike in-
terested in them, yet are by no means sufficiently
understood or estimated at their just value by the
bulls.' of mankind. The slowness with which the
humbler classes of our fellow-citizensimprove them-
selves in different branches of science ; and, indeed,
their reluctance to undergo the labour of studying
them, has been often lamented, but without excit-
ing the least surprise in those who duly considered
the circumstances of the case. In the attempts that
have been made for so many years to overcome such
obstacles, anti effect the more general diffusion of
knowledge, the necessity has been too much over-
looked of beginning with the upper classes of so-
ciety. When these are well imbued with the taste
for acquiring knowledge they have a natural ten-
dency to make those in other ranks partake of the
same great benefits. It is not that the whole or
even the greater part of one class will become edu-
cated, but some will be inspired with the desire, not
more benevolent than wise, of bearing the torch to
the regions still without those lights which they
themselves enjoy. This is sound and useful in-
struction, propagated by a sure and rational pro-
cess. Nor is it more certain that the various layers
of the great social structure are bound together by
the mighty clamp of justice administered to all and
binding on all, from the broad basis of the people
upwards, through the middle classes and the aristoe
cracy to the Crown itself, or the narrow summit,
than it is certain that knowledge pervades the vast
pyramid by successively embracingand disposing the
arches it is formed of. Knowledge thus diffused,
but especially knowledge of social interests, and
rights and duties, even more than the firm and
temperate distribution of justice itself, possesses
the great, the cardinal value of ensuring the sta-
bility of the social system. It is, to use the lan-
guage of the day, in the very greatest degree con-
servative, and in the highest sense of the phrase.
But its diffusion has another and most happy ten-
dency ; it leads to the improvement of the system,
because it inspires all classes with the desire of pro-
moting measures shown to be safe as well as effec-
tual—in a word, wholesome reforms. Nor can
anything be more groundless than the fears of pro-
gress entertained by some—affected by more. It
is,continued, t o
ie a
rn—o not knowledge
e
advanced,
which ignorancethey
which,
have
when we come to an explanation with them, they
in,
il li gl y shared.whic w Thise
really do fear. Knowledge is power ; but its na-
tural ally is the friendly power of virtue, with
aswebllvc het
ai dominionmtprauret of
Ilia o
hi s
knowledgew shall
supreme disposer and pre-
server, who " decketh himself with light as it were
iwni
ttoh
Nav
hsilic elv,d,,e" a
rhea has at
dprboyvitdheed
a garment, but defendeth all the earth as it were
" ttwh
ilig
ht ht ew s
ill be e s tverpes.
vented or retraced when the day dawns. If any
one is still alarmed at the force which the people
seem to gain when their faculties are expanded by
cultivation, let them recollect that this happy
process cannot be continued, and further
knowledge acquired, without a new security
being given by that very increase of knows
ledge against the delusions and the excesses,
sleuld,osotf
t fear. We are reminded
the
ee
happiest perhaps in
well as by the place wherethe
from which the peace of .the civooiTyamrtyitssyseumhbajb.ect,
as
c makes the power of
steam provide by expansion for its own control,
the one being nicely proportioned to the other.
is then both power and safety—it
eixliqsutoisriyteofinsvtaeannitionw,hi
tis self-contrel ; it gives to the mighty
oth the movement and the governor--
,‘ Unreasoned strength with perfect art combined,
Awes, serves, damages, and protects mankind.
But it is not safety alone that we expect • we fondly
Knowledge
coal er( i
ens
give
hope for more ; we confidently look higher. Thl•