The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-09-03
CuRRENT TOPICS.

seouant,v in tho seyenty-sxth year Of his age ut
the time of his death. His father BENG me-
cbanic earning his living as working smith, tho
daceasod was unable to obtain other than the
most ordinary education at common day schooi.
When q lad OF thirteen years he was apprcnticed |
n q london bookbinder TO learn tho trade OF his
master. and having, through lis position, the |
means of obtaining several scientific works. he |
studied them carefully, and by the assistance OF
one Of these, treatise electricity was onapicd
to construct his first electrical machine with
glass phal Subsequently through tho k!ndneSs
Of q member of tie Royal Institution, Mr.. FARA-
DAY obtained permission to attend inc iaS'
four lectures of Sir HUMPHREY Jaw, !"
| 1872 He afterwards addressed Sr HUM
puREY a letter asking for some sclentinc
emoloyment, and tsat humane and kliu-iearteu
nb;Iosonhor aitor ascertanlng the ability OF Inc
anplicant promp;g complied with his request
and made him h. eemical assistant at the Royal
Institr ion. Tho leased subsequently travelled
throughout Enropo as the assistant and amanucn-
s;s of his patron and on his return to England re-
snmed his position at the Royal Institution. The
proeress of GIt. FARADAY was now rapid and sue
| cessful In 1920 he discovered tho chlordes OF
| carbon: in 1921 the mutual rotation Of magnetic
pole and an electric current, and in 1928 his exer-
tions led on to the condensation OF the gases. In
1888 no became the Professor OF the New Chair OF
Chemistry at the Royal Institution, position ne
ever afterwards held. The honor which his own
and foreign governments and institutions DeS-
lowed upon him for his services to science WERE
numerous He was Commancer OF the Legion
of Honor Knight Of the Prussiap Order Oh Meri''
Fellow of the Royal Society, Doctor OF Civil Laws
one of the eight foreign Associates OF the lmpe-
rial Academy OF Sciences at Parie, besides being
member of many learned and scientific bodies IN
Europe and America.
TIE CHURCH PROPERTY bill, which has passed
the Lower House of the italian Parliament, and Ii
now pending in the Senate, in which body there Is
probably no doubt of its success, Is very sweep
ing measure. The bill insures the suppression OF
all religious corporations, and provides for the adj
ministration of their property by the State-that
ia by the local commissions, composed OF the
prefect Synic Fiscal Advocate, agent of the crown
,and and two upright citizens" These local COM
missions are to be superintended by central COM
mission consisting Of the CHIEF Director Oh the
| Crown Lands, the Treasurer OF the henSious "or-
ship Fund, two Deputies and two Senators. All
the personal property and five per ceat. OF the
revenue deriyedifrom landed estates ere to be ap-
nled to the expenses Of religious worship, anu to
tho l;sa mansion of members. The Church lands
ore n be nut up in small lots at public auc-
tion at minimum price, bidders to deposit
tenth of that price in the provincial treas " on
the dav OF sale, tenth OF the actual purchase
monev tan davs sitter, and the remainder to be
| Maid in eighteen years. in fixed rates. at Six per
cent. If paid down, seven per cent. discount will
he allowed. Charitable institutions arc to bo left
unmolested for the time being. ''The Government
is authorized" says tho bill, ''to emit at such
epocIs, and in such manner as it sees mt, q sutn-
,ient number of five per cent. bonds TO insure the
entry in the treasury of the actual sum OF 4oo,ooo
O00fr. These bonds shall be accepted at their
nominal value, in payment of the lands whose sale
bv this law is decreed." There we're present in
4 the House when the vote was taken on the most
vital proposition of the BILL 2Sf members, OF whom
only four abstained from voting. The result was,
yeas 265; nays 15 A writer who was present when
| the vote was announced, states that wild cheers
rang through the house, and the sitting was sus-
pended for one hour"
| AMONG THE passengers who recently left New
York for Europe by the City of Ant,oep was MIR.
DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, who goes to attend the
Social Science Congress, which meets at Belfast,
Ireland ON the 18Th of September Al tho last
session of this body, held in Manchester, MIR.
FIELD proposed the formation OF an international
Code, to be prepared by distinguished pubcists OF
different countries. The suggestion was adopted
and a committee was appointed for that purpose,
composed of some twenty members, OF whom one
half are from England, chiefly members OF para-
ment or mon eminent in law, such as Mr.. DEsSNAN,
Lord HoRART, Mr.. LEFEvRE and Mr.. WEsTLAKE.
France is represented by BERRYER and DEsMAREsr;
Germany by Professor MrrrERMAYER, OF Heldei-
berg, and other names well known in tho
legal world; and there are also representa-
tiyes from Italy, Belgium and Russia. Mr.. FIELD,
who is member of the committee, has beon labo-
rously engaged upon the subject for many months,
but the work is so vast that it is not expected that
any report will be attempted before another year.
The commission will meet at Belfast and compare
the results of their Investigations, and organize
for further labors. The Importance Of the work
cannot be over-estimsted. At present there is no
established international law. The only authori-
ties are the writings OF individuals such as GRO
TITUS. VArrEI and WHEAroN-names Of great emf
nence, but their opinions are. not recognized as
binding. What is accepted in one country is re-
iected in another. To bring together these divers
authorities and the decisions of different points,
by treaty or otherwise, with view to harmonizo,
if possible, the rule and practice of all civilized
nations, would be great service, and would so Ear
| IN reyent international disputes.
A BosroN PAPER announces that lIr. DICKENS
will read in that city in December. We think this
is premature. As We informed Mr.. DOLBY,
the agent of Mr.. DICKENS, makes Nd arragements
indeed is not authorized to make any arrange
ments-until he has looked over the ground, re-
ported to his principal, and has from him received
fresh instructions. Mr.. DOLBY is now in Phila-
delphia He has received letters from nearly one
hundred towns and cities asking the loan or rise
OF Mr. DICKENS for one night or longer. For tho
present printed formula, entirely non-committal
goes In reply. These letters come from the entire
country, from Eastport to Omaha, and cities
not even mapped out when DICKENS prepared
his American Notes now tender him audiences
ss large as brigade, in halls Of proportonate
size and grandeur. Hundreds of miles West Of
that Eden whence the cheerful Mark Topley specu-
lated on American progress, and the great Posram
and the inimitable Jefferson Brick sweled into un
natural proportions there come invitations to
read. to orderly, and settled and civilized COM
munities, which already have antiquarian societies
and talk of the graves Of their pioneer ancestors"
IL THE RECENT MEETING OF the American Asso-
citation for the Advancement OF Science, Professor
]. F. Ho1rox read q curious paper on the use Of
months for dates; he recommended the numbering
of the Gays Of the year in their sequence so as to
get rid Of the confusion Of calculations attendant
upo,i our irregular and arbitrary division into
mon,hs Ii was shown tha; according TO this
plan The reckoning of intervals Of tmc would be